


GIMME A RUN (FOR MY MONEY)

by lovinyoongi



Series: kei is hopeless and tobio loves him [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Tsukishima Kei is a Dork, he's trying his best, kags is... There
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 14:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12061176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovinyoongi/pseuds/lovinyoongi
Summary: love, he muses, is inescapable.or, kei, for whatever reason, doesn't think love can reach him until he realizes admiral blue eyes becomes a constant presence in Kei's List of Things He Loves™, right under dinos and above french fries.





	GIMME A RUN (FOR MY MONEY)

**Author's Note:**

> im honestly a slut for kags and tsuki they are all i think about at this point happy tsukikage day im Alive

its stupid, really. they're barely teammates, even _acquaintances_ seems like a bit of a stretch, and kei feels bitter disappointment in his chest when he realizes that, _hey, buddy, this is your fault. kinda._ he doesn't know what came over him, what possessed him to catch the ball in the palm of his hand and sneer the now-nickname, " _king_." whatever it was, he didn't (and still doesn't) appreciate it.    
  
_maybe_ , he thinks with a frown, _its the part of him that never really forgave akiteru's lies_. the dreaded disappointment that came with looking around that stadium and finding his brother in the bleachers, cheering and happy and _lying_ , but _still_ driven. the heartbreak followed his expression afterwards and kei left on his own. but why would kei care about the king?    
  
trying (hoping) to get him to stop with the hope, the confidence that, " _we're going to get to nationals!_ " when they (shouyuo and his- _the_ king) weren't even in the club, and kei can't believe he tried to remind the king of his past in order to bring him down. kei's guilt eats away at his ribs with every glance he makes to tobio. shouyou, of course, takes it the wrong way when kei asks for a moment alone with the king (after days- maybe weeks?- of building up courage).    
  
tobio hasn't said anything yet, eyebrows shot up, expression confused but calm, not a hint of anger on his face. or in his eyes. kei loves his eyes.    
  
then shouyou butts in.   
  
"what the heck do you want with my setter?!"    
  
and it takes kei by surprise (and it shouldn't have, but it did), the " _my""_ blares loudly in his ears, and kei tells himself it's seriously not a big deal. its not a big deal how tobio isn't _his_ anything. not even his friend. its only fair that he's not. then tobio flushes pink, out of anger or out of embarrassment, kei couldn't say right then, but the amused smile on tobio's lips gives him his answer. kei wants to leave (really, _really_ badly) once he see's that smile. it shines a light on the fact that _you'll never be that_ , and kei almost whispers, " _i'll never have that_ ," but tobio looks at him and shrugs.    
  
"lead the way, tsukishima."    
  
he ignores shouyou's threats as he and tobio walk to the back of the gym.    
  
_its hard_ , kei realizes. _apologizing is hard_.    
  
"um," he offers helplessly at tobio's expectant gaze, and he's never been one to lose his words, "i wanted to... apologize?" and it comes out as a question rather than a statement and kei instantly has regrets.    
  
why cant he do this?   
  
"are you asking me?" tobio questions, and there's no bite, just pure curiosity, but kei stills flinches, still stays cautious before he mutters, "let me start over."    
  
he breathes in a couple times, sighing before blurting out, "im sorry i was such an asshole to you. that i _am_ such an asshole to you."    
  
tobio stares, and for once, kei wishes he wouldn't. he cant look away from his eyes, _anything_ but his eyes.    
  
"i... i don't accept your apology, tsukishima,"  he says slowly, as if testing it out, and kei can feels his lungs shriveling up in his chest, can feel his eyes stinging, his throat burning, and tobio stands there, unaware of the shit storm he causes to kei.    
  
"i don't accept because," he pauses, and kei cant breathe, "i don't understand why you did it. but i'd, uh, like to." and he adds the last part quietly, almost a suggestion for something more and kei's mouth is opening before he realizes and for once, he lets himself fall.    
  
"sleep over my house. ill tell you."    
  
seven words is all it takes, kei's golden honey eyes oozing with hope, and he's vulnerable, tobio can see it as clear as day, but he nods.   
  
"okay. lets go."    
  
—   
  
they walk to kei's house together, kei's hands shaking, long fingers twitching so much that tobio notices. and its not hard to understand why. kei, with the limited friends he has (one- he truly has one), doesn't speak much about anyone else. no crushes, no classmates, and bringing home a wild tobio is something his family doesn't expect. tobio can understand. they greet him and welcome him the same, and tobio is still tobio around kei, and kei is still kei, and all is alright until tobio is sitting on his bed. more specifically, all is alright until tobio is _relaxing_ on his bed, bangs pushed back, pajamas comfortably snug around him as he glances around kei's room.    
  
"you have... dinosaurs?" he asks quietly, amused but not teasing, and kei flushes red at the observation.    
  
"t-they're figurines, okay? collectibles, to be exact." he mutters, and tobio smiles to himself at kei's embarrassment. he will admit, _cute_.    
  
kei coughs, dropping his favorite pillow on the futon that tobio is sleeping on (he tells himself he doesn't care, that it's just him being _nice_ ), and tobio doesn't seem to want to move yet, so kei sits next to him on his bed and takes a breather.    
  
"so," tobio hums, "uh. if you talk, i'll listen." and its a promise, kei feels it, and he tries not to smile.    
  
"right," he murmurs, and he begins.   
  
"it was primary school, i think. maybe early junior high. my brother, akiteru, went to karasuno. he was on the volleyball team. at least, i think he was. i never really bothered to hear his full explanations.   
  
he was the one who really introduced volleyball to me. he got me into it, taught me stuff, and told me how great his team was. he told me how great he was on the team. and he was one person i really looked up to," he says, and his heart clenches, but he continues,    
  
"and i hoped it could stay like that, but it didn't. my brother had all this... hope. all this passion and drive for volleyball that didn't get him to where he wanted to be in high school. he lied to me. lied about being a regular, about being the ace, about everything. he gave me all this hope for my volleyball future, all this passion for the sport, only to let me down. only to let himself down. and it broke his heart. and mine. and i didn't want it to happen again, i guess," he says.    
  
kei looks at tobio, with an expression that's almost overwhelming before his strawberry pink lips murmur words even tobio has trouble understanding,    
  
"i didn't want to see one of the best players i'd ever seen in my life break his own heart about the one thing he loves most," he trails off, "and i guess that meant discouraging you with your past."    
  
its quiet for a few seconds before kei laughs, bitter.   
  
"i still can't believe i was that stupid." he murmured, and tobio sits up, watching kei shrink back as if expecting the worst. the black haired male frowns.    
__  
"you tried to protect me?" its a question that kei feels is a statement, and he nods; quiet, and embarrassed, and _utterly fucked_.   
  
they sit in silence together. kei tense, tobio thoughtful before he says,   
  
"i just keep thinking-"   
  
"don't hurt yourself," kei suddenly giggles (fucking _giggles_ ), shoving a hand over his strawberry pink lips and tobio screams in his head, "let me see you, bastard!" but his blue eyes are soft as he stares at kei's shaking shoulders, at kei's pale hands, at kei's scrunched up eyes behind his glasses. tobio smiles despite the insult.    
  
the blond boy calms down, chuckles as he lifts his hand away, sighs a little, and tobio's smile is still present as he sees that kei's shoulders are no longer tense.    
  
"m'sorry," kei mumbles, smile lazy as he shrugs his shoulders, but the blue eyed boy snorts as he shakes his head.    
  
"its fine, jerk," he tells him, flicking his forehead, and its worth it; kei's gold eyes are just a bit wider now, glittering and oh-so pretty, and tobio's smile is still there, unwavering and soft. kei's breath is knocked out of him.   
  
"i forgive you, tsuki," tobio says, and _holy shit_ , kei suspects that the king is trying to kill him. tobio's eyes widen at what he called kei, cheeks tinting pink as he sputters,    
  
"tsukishima! i meant tsukishima." with the weak attempt at a coverup, kei shakes his head.    
  
"its fine, king. thank you." he nods his head curtly, tobio's eyes (big and blue, always so blue and kei _definitely_ thinks they're prettier than the ocean) still wide and he even grumbles a little.    
  
"you're still gonna use that nickname?" he pouts, and kei breathes out a chuckle that tobio definitely isn't expecting.    
  
"of course, your highness," kei says, raising his eyebrow, and his lungs don't hurt anymore, his ribs aren't being eaten at anymore, and finally, he's feeling hopeful.    
  
"these are _my_ nicknames for _you_. and instead of pairing them with hate, why not pair them with something more positive?" and he manages to surprise the both of them this time around. they can't meet each other's gaze and kei's fingers shake, and tobio's fingers wrangle each other. kei stands up quickly after a few moments and goes to his door, turning swiftly before stammering out a, "uh... ill be right back." tobio doesn't suspect much, just tries to relax on kei's bed, breathes the scent that is kei (something sweet, maybe vanilla, but its distant, too, as if mixed with the smell of roses cause thats always a distant smell, but tobio can't say he minds).    
  
and then kei comes back, a trey with two cups of strawberry milk, vanilla cookies, and tobio smiles at him. kei is blushing, the color matching the milk, and he hands a cup to tobio, apologizes because "strawberry flavored milk is my favorite, so its all we have," but tobio is quick to shake his head and accept, pride be damned as he admits,    
  
"its my second favorite," and kei grins a little, tries to hide it as he joins tobio on the bed again. the trey rests snuggly between them as he gently nudges the others arm.   
  
"i told you my tragic backstory, yknow," he smirks, "so im expecting yours sometime soon." and tobio notices he says ' _sometime soon_ ' instead of _not_ saying it, so he can't help but nod, cant help but chuckle, can't help but agree.   
  
"in the mean time," tobio supplies, "you can tell me your favorite bands." and when exactly was the last time tobio voluntarily asked anything about anyone in a non volleyball setting? but kei takes off, eyes shining as he gets up, takes a swing of his milk, saying something like, "these are literally my most prized possessions, king, don't you dare harm them." the small quirk of his lips tells tobio everything he needs to know. he blinks when kei shoves a box onto his lap and literally drops to his knees. quite frankly, tobio would have muttered how lewd this looked if only he hadn't looked at kei's face; his gold eyes, his strawberry pink lips, and tobio for the life of him cannot ignore his heart melting at the sight.    
  
"right, so, uh," kei pauses, seemingly taking a moment to gather his thoughts before he opens the lid and says, "these are my mp3 players."    
  
upon looking into the box, tobio can confidently say that kei has a problem with collecting mp3 players. but this is _kei_ , this is _tsukishima kei_ , the boy who doesn't go anywhere without a pair of headphones. tobio learned (creds to tadashi) that kei couldn't survive a day without listening to music, so if he ever appeared to be more snippy than usual, it'd be because kei forgot his mp3 player at home and was forced to listen to music on his phone.   
  
after a moment, kei continues:   
  
" _yes_ , im aware i can just listen to music on my phone but... ive had these since i was a kid and they mean a lot." kei doesn't know why he keeps leaving himself open for tobio to read like that, doesn't know why he _lets_ him, doesn't know why he wont just _shut the book_. but then he glances at tobio's eyes, realizes how attentive they are, how understanding he's being, and- _never mind, i know why_.    
  
kei clears his throat, grabs his headphones from his desk, and offers them to tobio.   
  
"this is the playlist i made for yamaguchi," he explains, grabbing the small mp3 player from its little cubby and plugging his headphones in. "obviously its a copy, he has the original, but... yeah." he trails off helplessly, shrugging his shoulders.    
  
tobio hums, trying to bury the envy building at the tip of his lungs because he wants a playlist, too, but he's not voicing that. no way. he nods, though, put's kei's headphones on, and grins while kei fixes them gently on his head, but not before he flicks tobio's forehead.   
  
"just... just listen, okay?" kei manages a small smile, albeit a nervous one at best. he wants tobio to enjoy this like he does.   
  
and in the end, he does. _a lot_. because instead of the music being connected to the headphones, its connected to kei's speakers. instead of sitting on the bed with kei on his knees in front of him, kei is snorting out laughs as tobio tries to get him to dance to this song. its not all that slow, and its not all that fast, and tobio, with a sudden surge of confidence, had blurted, "this is a nice song to dance to."   
  
"the king can dance, huh?" kei chuckles, and tobio declared he'll never get tired of that laugh.    
  
the black haired boy nods as he grabs kei's shaking hands, watching as kei freezes up and barely moves. he manages to get them in the starting position before kei mutters, "king, i look stupid." and tobio kicks his shin and tells him to shut up.   
  
the blond tries his best to scowl, huffing as he lets tobio guide him through the dance, biting his tongue as he notices how close they are. its not that he doesn't want this, whatever it is, and its not that he doesn't like it, (to be fair, he never thought they'd do this) its just... kei knows he's letting more than his pride or dignity or fears fall. he sighs, slowly getting the hang of it before the song changes.   
  
tobio drops his hands, snorting softly, "you're so stiff, tsuki." and he looks at him with those blue eyes that kei can't really handle, and his breath hitches as the speakers say,    
  
" **love or lust**." tobio points at the speakers, sitting on his futon as he says,    
  
"i love this song." kei breathes in deeply, not realizing what he's doing till he's doing it and its too late then. laying on his bed, his mouth betrays him,   
  
" _give me a run for money_ ," he sings, " _there is nobody, no one to outrun me_."    
  
tobio stares.   
  
" _so give me a run for my money_ ,"    
  
" _sippin' bubbly, feelin' lovely, livin' lovely_ ,"    
  
kei tries not to look at tobio,    
  
" _just love me_."    
  
its silent for a few minutes between them, but it goes to the next song, ( _aria, stammi vicino, non te ne andare_ , kei recognizes).   
  
"okay," tobio says, kei locking eyes with him.   
  
"sing again," he says, kei's strawberry lips parting in surprise, "to me."    
  
kei bites back a grin.   
  
"sure, your highness."    
  
__**fin.**


End file.
